Songs are canvases for emotions. Depending on the mood of the composer, a song can be flirty and fun, dark and brooding, or any other kind of tone. That’s the beauty of music—it’s not about the notes, it’s about the feeling. Here below, we wanted to highlight three songs from back in the day that offered a very specific feeling—drama. But with that drama also came a sense of poeticism. Indeed, these are three dramatic one-hit wonders from the 1960s that sound more like poetry.
“Oh Happy Day” by Edwin Hawkins Singers from ‘Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord’ (1968)
This exultant song is one of praise. Human beings are good at many things, and worship is one of them. For all our pride and power, human beings are also capable of getting on their knees and praying or offering up a deep feeling of devotion. Of course, when that happens, a sense of poetry is also involved. Take, for example, the 1968 tune “Oh Happy Day” by Edwin Hawkins Singers. The song is fit for a play. It’s deep, rich, sumptuous, devoted, dramatic, and poetic.
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“Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey from ‘Goldfinger’ (1964)
This dramatic song is perfect for the stage (or film). Indeed, Shirley Bassey’s deep, room-filling voice offers a great vessel for this work from the James Bond movie series. Bassey, in a way, is also singing an ode. The poetic song not only includes lines praising an epic movie villain, but it does so like a short story. We learn about the character—Goldfinger—and we see him in action. Just listen to how Bassey describes the monster: “Golden words he will pour in your ear / But his lies can’t disguise what you fear / For a golden girl knows when he’s kissed her / It’s the kiss of death from Mister Goldfinger.“
“I Will Follow Him” by Little Peggy March from ‘I Will Follow Him’ (1963)
Some poems you can almost picture being written. You can see an author at her desk scribbling away lines that mean the universe to her. That’s the feeling you get when you hear “I Will Follow Him” by Little Peggy March. The adoring offering is like a window into her heart. There’s no two ways about it, like a young Juliet, March is smitten over her Romeo. She sings, “I will follow him / Follow him wherever he may go / There isn’t an ocean too deep / A mountain so high it can keep, keep me away / Away from my love.“
(Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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British musician Christine McVie, of the group Fleetwood Mac, performs onstage at the Alpine Valley Music Theater, East Troy, Wisconsin, July 19, 1978. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
The members of the new wave band the B-52s pose outdoors in front of a lake. From left to right: Fred Schneider (vocals), Kate Pierson (vocals and keyboards), Ricky Wilson (guitar), Keith Strickland (drums), and Cindy Wilson (vocals and guitar). (Photo by Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images) -
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Welsh singer Shirley Bassey performs at the Royal Variety Show in London, UK, November 1971. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) -
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Don Barnes of .38 Special is shown performing on stage during a "live" concert appearance on June 26, 1994. (Photo by John Atashian/Getty Images) -
UNITED STATES – CIRCA 1958: New York City 1958. (Photo by Jess Rand/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
CIRCA 1959: (L-R) Billy Guy, Will 'Dub' Jones, Carl Gardner, Cornell Gunter, Adolphi Jacobs of the doo wop group "The Coasters" pose for a portrait in circa 1959. This lineup of the group was together from 1958-61. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)